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<title>"Cherry Sour"? Where Have I Heard That Before? by corvidConstellation</title>
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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/25321690">"Cherry Sour"? Where Have I Heard That Before?</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/corvidConstellation/pseuds/corvidConstellation'>corvidConstellation</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>All Time Low (Band), Waterparks (Band)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Closeted Character, Fluff, Friendship, Happy Ending, Multi, Open Relationships</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-07-25</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-07-25</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-05 03:28:49</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Teen And Up Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>1,756</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/25321690</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/corvidConstellation/pseuds/corvidConstellation</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Awsten notices some familiar-sounding lyrics in one of the love songs from Wake Up Sunshine, and promptly begins to worry that Alex has been in love with him the whole time. As one does.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Alex Gaskarth/Awsten Knight, Alex Gaskarth/Lisa Ruocco, Jack Barakat/Alex Gaskarth</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>3</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>31</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>"Cherry Sour"? Where Have I Heard That Before?</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>I wrote this in two hours.</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p><em> Summer Daze </em> is the fourteenth song in the album, so it’s not like Awsten is really on the edge of his seat when he hears it.</p>
<p>Of course, he <em>is</em> listening. It’s just that he usually has to deconstruct the structure of a song before he starts really listening to any lyrical meanings, which goes doubly so for music he knows he’s going to like. For songs that are truly good, he has to be able to take the music theory apart and put it back together and appreciate it on every level as much as he can. Lyrics are something to sit with, and listening to them too much too early can change how you perceive the whole song’s mood and intent; Awsten finds it better to let the music speak for itself before turning to the words. Sure, Awsten could sit here and try to take everything in at once, but that would be a disservice. Good music deserves deeper evaluation. And All Time Low deserves that, you know? They deserve to have their audience listen for more than just Alex’s pretty voice and catchy words to sing along to. It’s a nice voice, but when you focus the right way, it just becomes another instrument playing out melodies and harmonies over the band.</p>
<p>But then he hears the words <em> “cherry sour” </em> and that all goes out the window.</p>
<p>He fumbles for his phone, hitting the back button to restart the song again. Distorted guitar in a catchy tune, on beats that sound like they’d be fun to play at a show. The drums kick in, with some distorted vocals, and the bass is under there somewhere. Honestly, it sounds a little crowded, a little grungy, but if everyone made music as bright and sparkly as Awsten does the world would be a boring-ass place.</p>
<p>And Alex’s voice sings,</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <em> “We met after dark and after hours, </em>
</p>
<p>
  <em> Your lips were cherry sour; </em>
</p>
<p>
  <em> We didn’t have to speak” </em>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>And Awsten knows it’s about him.</p>
<p>He doesn’t bother listening in to the lyrics, he’s already swiping through his phone menus to Google, looking up the lyrics for - <em> what the fuck is this one </em> - he swipes down from the top and quickly dismisses the bar to type in “summer daze atl lyrics”.</p>
<p>Google has his back, luckily, even though the song has only been legally available in the US for about a half-hour so far.</p>
<p>Skimming the words, he reads with a furrowed brow and desperately tries to figure out if this is a love song. Well, a real love song. The kind that you write when you want something real and legitimate, not the kind you write for someone you—</p>
<p>Whatever.</p>
<p>And it might be fine, because Awsten thought he sorted out that this wasn't a love thing from the start. Actually, he was so worried about fucking up Alex's marriage that he forced Alex to bring Lisa so Awsten could clarify consent in-person. He’s been on the bad side of a cheating relationship too many times to ever go behind anyone's back, but Lisa had laughed and said she knew who Awsten was and what Alex was asking for, and then she told Awsten to use a condom. And, well, that’s maybe the smoothest permission-granting anyone could possibly pull off, so Awsten shrugged and went for it.</p>
<p>(That was all assuming that Alex just wanted fun, that he was just looking to rent some equipment his wife didn’t have, that he wasn’t going to go and fucking <em> fall in love </em> with Awsten along the way.)</p>
<p>The words say <em> “nothing gold can stay, you told me so” </em> and <em> “don’t fade away from me” </em> and <em> “it’s too hard to sleep” </em> and <em> “letting go is only getting harder” </em> and <em> “wasn’t our time” </em> and <em> “now I never have to wonder”, </em> and Awsten bites his lip and admits to himself that he actually doesn’t know if this entire song is about him. He remembers conversations he had with Alex that night and the day after. How it felt perfect for Awsten, and how Alex said he felt the same. He remembers reminding Alex about his wife, and telling him that what they had was temporary, if not beautiful. And Alex seemed so contradictory; so fucking in love with the woman he'd married but so genuine when his lips were on Awsten's. The whole song is so on-the-nose, so close to real life. It terrifies Awsten, because why the fuck would Alex put this out now? Like, is his marriage fucking crumbling or something? What does this even mean?</p>
<p>He wonders if this is what Mikey feels like when Fall Out Boy albums drop.</p>
<p>And then he looks back up to the top of the screen, where the lyrics begin and notices that the title of the song is <em> Summer Daze (Seasons, Pt. 2) </em>. Part 2, which unfortunately implies the existence of a Part 1.</p>
<p>Now sweating, Awsten types in this title fragment into the search bar along with “atl lyrics” and watches Google pull up the lyrics for a song called <em> January Gloom (Seasons, Pt. 1) </em>.</p>
<p>This time, fortunately, when he scans the words for descriptors of whoever Alex is singing to, none of it rings any bells. <em> “Hiding in your room” </em> and <em> “another drop of Hudson in the dark” </em> and <em> “just for now we’ll shut those words away” </em> and <em> “all I need for now is you to save me” </em> sound nothing like anything Alex has ever done or said to Awsten.</p>
<p>But… that doesn’t clear <em> Summer Daze </em> . Awsten is aware that some people write songs that aren’t about real life experience, too. That doesn’t change that fact that Alex usually doesn’t. He writes in big metaphors, twisting mental health and friendships and long-dead experiences into break up songs that kids find super relatable. Besides, the line <em> “cherry sour” </em> seems too specific to <em> not </em> be about Awsten.</p>
<p>So he flips to his contacts page, and scrolls down until he finds the contact labeled "🌹" and presses the call button.</p>
<p>It would be a lie to say he waits patiently for Alex to pick up, honestly. His leg bounces on the ground, and he busies himself with pulling his headphones off his ears and setting them down next to his laptop keyboard.</p>
<p>And then there’s a click. “Awsten, hey!”</p>
<p>“Are you trying to tell me through song lyrics that you fell in love with me?” Awsten asks.</p>
<p>There’s a beat, and then he hears Alex snort. “Hah, no. You’re safe.”</p>
<p>“Oh, thank god,” Awsten sighs. “I’m too pretty to be a homewrecker.”</p>
<p>Alex laughs loud and bright on the other end.</p>
<p>Awsten huffs out a breath and shakes his head, but he smiles. It is actually a relief to hear that Alex wasn’t trying to make some grand gesture.</p>
<p>“Well thanks for listening to the album,” Alex says. “You must’ve downloaded it the second it came out if you’re already on <em> Summer Daze</em>.”</p>
<p>“So that one <em> was </em> about me,” Awsten exclaims. “Dude, you motherfucker. <em> ‘Cherry sour’? </em> Really? You’re not being subtle. FANDOM came out, like, five months ago.”</p>
<p>“I wouldn’t worry,” Alex says. “Our producers didn’t catch that it was anything but straight, and fans that notice will just sound like conspiracy theorists as always.”</p>
<p>Awsten blinks, thinking about it.</p>
<p>“Hey, I'm sorry. I should have asked first. I thought it would be a happy surprise.”</p>
<p>“It— it’s not an<em> unhappy </em>surprise,” Awsten says quickly. “It’s just like… why’d you… is the whole song about us?”</p>
<p>“Yeah.”</p>
<p>“You realize that to most people, writing a song means something more, right?”</p>
<p>“You are something more,” Alex says defensively. “You’re my friend.”</p>
<p>Awsten rolls his eyes. “You know what I mean. And— and what about the other one? The— fuck, I didn’t read the track titles. The one that’s the <em> Pt. 1 </em>? That’s not… that one’s not—”</p>
<p>“No,” Alex cuts in gently. “That one’s not about you.”</p>
<p>“Okay?” Awsten says expectantly, drawing it out to emphasize that he does actually want to hear what it is about.</p>
<p>“The songs <em> Seasons </em> are about the only two dudes… I’ve ever the only guys I’ve ever slept with,” Alex says. “You’re one of them, obviously. But you weren’t my first rodeo. Wanna take a guess?”</p>
<p>Awsten thinks for a moment, trying to utilize the gaydar he barely has any right to (like, he’s bicurious at best). “I’m second-guessing because Jack seems more obvious, but Rian would be more subversive or whatever.”</p>
<p>“Nah, it’s Jack. He’s a forever thing, you know? I’m never gonna get a friend better than that,” Alex says. “I’ve needed to lean on him for a lot of things over the years.”</p>
<p>“Huh,” Awsten says.</p>
<p>“Like I said. I just brush off the conspiracies.”</p>
<p>Awsten nods awkwardly, despite knowing very well that it does nothing over the phone. “Well. Good album.”</p>
<p>“You like it?”</p>
<p>“Yeah. I need to stream it about a million more times, but I like it,” Awsten says. “Favorite part so far is the one with the fucking weird time signature."</p>
<p>"Oh! How did you count that, out of curiosity?"</p>
<p>Awsten squints, trying to remember. "Uh, I wanna say it changed mid-song like four times? I counted in 3/4 and 4/4 for most of it, but 6/8 for the chorus. Definitely had to rewind and count, though."</p>
<p>"I keep telling people it's 13/4, but you're right, that's not consistent for the chorus and bridge."</p>
<p>"Right. The acoustic song had great mixing too. Really good composition overall for that one.”</p>
<p>“Thanks, man,” Alex says.</p>
<p>Awsten clears his throat. “Sorry for taking up your time. I’m sure you’ve got a million people to talk to right now.”</p>
<p>“Oh, nothing too important.”</p>
<p>“I should let you get back to it, though. Check all those reviews and reactions. It’s a good album. You deserve all the congratulations you’ll get,” Awsten says.</p>
<p>“Thank you,” Alex says quietly. And the thing is, he sounds sincere, like he means that, and like it isn’t just something he’s saying because that’s how you respond to compliments.</p>
<p>“Wow. You’re an amazing dude and I’m glad I don't have to let you down easy,” Awsten says without thinking.</p>
<p>Alex bursts out laughing again.</p>
<p>“I didn’t— I just mean that we’re both mostly straight!” Awsten says. “It’s a good thing!”</p>
<p>“I’m never writing you another song, ugh.”</p>
<p>“This is what they mean when they say ‘never meet your heroes’.”</p>
<p>“Aww, I’m your hero?”</p>
<p>“Take your totally-not-gay-love-songs and shove them up your ass, actually,” Awsten says, and he hangs up.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Every god damn time I hear either song... well, now you share this curse with me.</p></blockquote></div></div>
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